Lewis Hamilton was notably downbeat after another difficult race for Ferrari and an eighth-place finish in Azerbaijan on Sunday.
The seven-time world champion has endured an underwhelming first season at the Scuderia and now, after 17 races and with just seven to go, he is still searching for his first podium.
In Baku, Hamilton qualified a disappointing 12th on the grid and while he made up places throughout the 51-lap grand prix, the 40-year-old finished eighth – a spot ahead of Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc.
Asked for his thoughts on the race, Hamilton told Sky Sports F1:“Not good. We were slow. It’s a disappointing result.
“From feeling so optimistic after practice, I felt so good in the car, but we went in the wrong direction. The ultimate pace wasn’t there.
“Qualifying was obviously key. I’m happy to move forward from 12th but don’t really care for that position [eighth].
“We’ll internally go and have a look at what would’ve done differently, it’s something we need to work on.”
Max Verstappen triumphed for the second race running for Red Bull, with Mercedes’ George Russell finishing second and Carlos Sainz – who Hamilton replaced at Ferrari – securing his first podium for Williams.
The result means Mercedes overtake Ferrari in the battle for second in the constructors’ championship.
Hamilton added: “The others were just rapid – it was an unusual Baku race where overtaking was difficult.
“Definitely disappointed to come away with nothing.”
F1 next heads to the Marina Bay Street Circuit in a fortnight for the Singapore Grand Prix (3-5 October).
